Thursday, April 18, 2024
Granbury Mayor Nin Hulett and his wife Jan practice recommended social distancing, but the dozens of congregants in their front yard don’t.
On Monday afternoon, a flock of pink flamingos landed on the lawn in the Harbor Lakes subdivision that Hulett keeps meticulously manicured.
The birds were brought there by 14-year-old Kate Mauldin, an eighth-grader at Acton Middle School, and her mom, Becky, who is executive director of United Way of Hood County.
The mother-and-daughter team came up with a fun way to use the 50 plastic pink flamingos that were planned for United Way’s “Havana Nights” fundraiser in May. The event has been postponed until fall due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The Mauldins created the “Let’s Flock Together to Give” campaign. When one person allows the flamingos and donation containers to be placed on their lawns, their neighbors can donate items from their own pantries without having to leave their neighborhoods.
The flamingos and containers will remain at each location for three days, with Mauldin and her daughter making daily pick-ups. The birds will then “migrate” to the lawn of the next person on the list.
Jan Hulett has been instrumental in lining up willing homeowners and Kate is keeping track of their names and addresses, Mauldin said.
“We’ll be tracking them on Twitter and on Facebook,” Mauldin said, adding that she hopes homeowners will do selfies with their birdinfested lawns in the background.
Mauldin said that she and her daughter were inspired by the fun they had with their neighbors during the holidays when they would “kidnap” things from each other’s lawn and hold them for “ransom.” The Mauldin family scored a cheesecake after playfully swiping a snowman decoration from the yard of a neighbor whose son works at The Cheesecake Factory.
Kate has plenty of time to help with the project. Schools are out of session in an effort to slow the spread of the coronavirus.
Mission Granbury Executive Director Dusti Scovel said that the nonprofit, as well as the Rotary Club, local churches and other food pantries, is partnering with the Granbury Independent School District to deliver lunches every day to children who have depended on school-provided meals.
“The challenge is getting enough food,” she said. “Panic buying has cleared the stores of many of the items we need for these bags – bread, fruit cups, granola bars, instant oatmeal, etc.”
Mauldin said that a cur rent-needs list will be posted with the signs placed next to the donation containers.
Other needed food items for kids include: Pop-Tarts, ravioli, macaroni and cheese, Vienna Sausage, peanut butter crackers, canned fruit, canned soup such as Chicken Noodle, Ramen and SpaghettiO’s.
Other items needed include toilet paper, paper towels, Tylenol, Gatorade, Ensure, diapers, pull-ups, baby wipes, powdered laundry soap, quart- and gallon-size Ziplock bags and formula.
Mauldin said that one of the signs by the donation containers includes a QR code (similar to a bar code) that people can scan with their cell phone camera. It will direct them to the United Way website where they can make a financial donation online if they don’t have items on hand to donate.
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